In the manufacture of sewn material, such as quilted bedding material, different patterns may be sewn with varying levels of difficulty. For example, a quilting pattern may include intricate and/or detailed pattern elements that are optimally stitched at a higher stitch density which provides greater accuracy during sewing. The entire quilted pattern may then be sewn under such constraints, limited to the higher stitch density preference and/or requirement by only portions of the pattern. However, the constraints of such intricate areas of sewing may prove problematic from an efficiency and manufacturing perspective, as throughput and cosmetic versatility of the rest of the pattern are sacrificed. Other portions of the quilting pattern having minimal detail are typically also sewn at the same stitch density as the rest of the quilting pattern, despite the fact that these portions may be preferentially stitched and/or require a much lower stitch density than that of the more detailed pattern elements. For example, in a traditional machine-quilting system, the quilted pattern is sewn at a consistent stitch density (i.e., a higher stitch density for patterns including detailed elements) regardless of the particular characteristics of each portion of the pattern. Accordingly, a need exists for a system and method for sewing a particular stitch density within particular elements of a pattern, such as by alternating between a higher stitch density, an intermediate stitch density, and a lower stitch density, based on characteristics of quilting pattern elements.